Stars
by Sirius I'm Serious
Summary: As Lucina struggles to deal with her doubts and insecurities about an uncertain and dangerous future, Morgan shows her that she doesn't have to face them all alone. Rated T for violent concepts. Contains spoilers for Fire Emblem Awakening if you haven't beaten Chapter 13 and Paralogue 12.


Disclaimer: _I do not own Fire Emblem Awakening, only this plot._

_Morgan:_

_Mother: Robin/default Female My Unit (obviously)_

_Father: Stahl (so imagine him with green hair and some of Stahl's personality traits)_

_Lucina:_

_Father: Chrom (obviously)_

_Mother: Sully_

_Sister: Kjelle_

Stars:

Death. Death was coming. And she couldn't do anything to stop it.

This was all Lucina could think about every time she awoke from her nightmares. It felt like each night was filled with never-ending horrors of her friends and family being cut down mere moments before she could reach them. Each terror would end the same way, with the soon-to-be victim turning to face her and calling out her name in a panic before being killed in the most gruesome ways.

As Lucina sat up in her bed, breathing deeply as if she had really been racing towards her ally, she glanced about the tent, ensuring that what had been happening had not actually been real.

But she knew that it could be.

Lucina closed her eyes and attempted to breathe evenly, without success. Her breath came out in shaky gasps, with the cold winter air causing it to be seen in uneven smoky gray clouds. This nightmare had been particularly frightening because she had seen her own father being impaled through the heart. She had been so close, had been about to shove him away from the Risen, but, as always, she had been too late.

With her closed eyes, she could see it replay. Dark red blood had splattered onto her face from the lance's impact through her father, and it was as he fell and she began to scream that she had ended up waking up.

Cringing, she quickly opened her eyes and used a hand to wipe her face, calming down a bit after seeing it come away clean. With the same hand, she made a fist and slammed it down onto her bed, frustrated with herself. She knew that she could change the future along with her friends that had come back in time with her, yet the nightmares persisted and refused to give her peace.

"_The future can be changed… It MUST be changed!_"

She said this mantra to herself every night before she slept, but the nightmares kept coming.

Lucina sat there for a few minutes, leaving her fist clenched tightly as she again attempted to slow her breathing. The cold air did nothing to help, and it was then that she realized that she would not be returning to sleep anytime soon. Not just because it was cold, but because she couldn't bear to see anyone else murdered right in front of her.

Quickly yet quietly, Lucina pushed back her sheet and stood up next to her bed. She then titled her head towards the entrance of her tent, listening carefully. Hearing no sounds of late-night soldiers, she slowly opened the entrance of her tent and looked around. Seeing no one, Lucina hurried to the edge of the camp, desperate to have someplace to think that wasn't crowded with people that she failed to protect.

It took longer than she would have thought, and it was this length of time that made Lucina realize just how large their army had truly become. "_So many people to fight for our cause… and so many people to die for our cause_." Lucina stopped abruptly with her arms locked down her sides and fists clenched. "_It seems hopeless. Time always favors its original course. I couldn't prevent Aunt Emmeryn's death, and with Father being dead in our time… how can I stop it from happening again?_"

Hopeless, Lucina dropped to the ground, sitting hunched over with the overwhelming feeling of grief. "_I don't… I don't know if I can do this anymore… is our future truly forced to remain in shambles?_"

She sat back, rubbing her arms that had begun to turn cold as she sat outside without any form of outerwear. Looking up for a sign, she saw that the sky was clear, and that the stars were visible and were shining brightly. "_The stars… they seem so much brighter than in the future…_"

A gust of wind suddenly blew by, causing Lucina to shiver and rub her arms even more fiercely. "_I must truly be a fool… who would come outside and take a midnight stroll in the middle of winter? Oh well, at least there's no snow._" As she chuckled to herself, grateful for the little things when the rest of her life seemed so ominous, she felt something drop onto her shoulders.

Jumping up quickly and knocking the object off, Lucina turned around and shouted, "Who's there? I warn you, I –" She quickly cut herself off as she saw that the person whom she was threatening was none other than the boy with amnesia.

Morgan.

Before she could properly apologize, Morgan spoke quietly, "I'm sorry, Lucina. I didn't mean to startle you. You just seemed so cold, and I thought that maybe you could use a coat of some sort." He gestured towards the object that Lucina had flung off in her shock, and as Lucina turned towards it, she saw that it was a dark cloak. Thinking that it looked familiar, she turned back to Morgan to see him without his usual robe.

Lucina bent down quickly to pick it up, and as she handed it back to him, she murmured, "No, Morgan. I should be the only one to apologize. I didn't hear you approach, and I believed that only an enemy would try to catch me by surprise."

Morgan chuckled slightly. "How about we call it even then?" Looking at the offered cloak, he shook his head and pushed it away. "You keep that. You need it more than I do, judging by how much you're shivering."

Lucina blushed slightly in embarrassment. "I am not cold. I've lived in much more adverse conditions than just a cool breeze blowing every now and again. Besides," she looked down at the tempting cloak, "if you give me this, not only will _you_ be cold, but we won't be even."

Morgan chuckled again, causing Lucina to frown in annoyance. "Hey there. No need to get all defensive. I wasn't implying any sort of weakness or anything. We all get cold now and again." Pausing to stroke his chin in thought, he eventually replied, "Well, if you would allow me to sit with you, I think we could call ourselves even." He grinned.

Lucina sighed slightly. Though she wanted to be alone, she had to admit, wearing the warm, lined cloak was very tempting. And she still felt bad about threatening him. Swallowing deeply, Lucina forced a smile and replied, "Okay. But only for a little while."

Morgan nodded. "Of course." He then gestured for Lucina to sit, which she did hesitantly, wrapping the cloak around herself and reveling in its immediate warmth. She supposed that it was his body heat that made it so, and the very idea made her turn a slight shade of pink.

Morgan settled down next to her, sighing a bit. For a while, neither one spoke or even moved. Both merely stared up at the night sky dotted with stars.

Eventually, however, Morgan interrupted the silence. "How are you, Lucina? You always seem so concerned about everyone else, but you should take care of yourself now and again."

Lucina turned towards him. "I am well, Morgan. Believe me, I don't make a habit of strolling outside in freezing temperatures." They both chuckled slightly at this. Blowing into her hands to heat them up, she in turn asked, "And how are you, Morgan? Have any memories surfaced?"

Morgan's grin faded a bit at her words. "Nothing yet." His grin widened as he continued, "But it's fine! I have my memories of Mother, and even if I never regain my other memories, I can just make some starting now!"

Lucina chuckled at Morgan's blatant enthusiasm. "_What I wouldn't give for some myself_." As she pondered this, her demeanor abruptly sobered, and Lucina looked back down at the ground, disheartened.

Morgan's smile faltered again as he looked over at his companion. "Lucina? Are you alright? Was it something that I said?" He reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, but then seemed to think better of it, and dropped his hand down to his side.

Lucina did not notice his abrupt movements, and she only barely registered his question. She had returned to her world of darkness and despair, and it consumed her. She was powerless, pathetic even. She couldn't even bring herself to engage in a conversation that didn't instantly take a morbid turn.

As Lucina continued to spiral into these depressing thoughts, Morgan waited patiently. He knew what was wrong, what had suddenly taken over his friend, but he knew in his heart that he could never truly understand _how_ it plagued her.

In a way, his amnesia was a blessing. It was true that he could not remember anything besides his interactions with his mother, meaning that he missed out on other fond memories of friends, and even of his own father. However, he was also spared a great deal of tragedy. Even as he wracked his brain for anything even remotely sad, the most he could think of were the almost nonexistent spats that he had had with his mother. Even in this time, what he considered his 'second life,' he only really witnessed the tragedy of others. Nothing too depressing had ever really occurred to him, and even though he knew that the day when something tragic occurred to him would come, he was determined to take in all of the joyful moments that he experienced now.

"_And Lucina… she's faced so much hardship, so much adversity. It's amazing that she's held it together for so long…_"

But even as Morgan thought this, he saw Lucina's shoulders begin to shake, heard the quick, stabbing breaths. He heard and saw all of the tell-tale signs that Lucina was barely suppressing sobs. He was about to comfort her when she suddenly looked up, eyes glistening but no actual tears falling.

"No, Morgan. You could never upset me. I… am merely worried about the future. It doesn't concern you, and I shouldn't have even told you what I did." She gripped Morgan's cloak closer to herself and looked away. "You have enough to worry about with your memories. You hide your feelings well, but I am not a fool. You are more bothered than you're letting on."

Morgan smiled sadly. "_Oh no you don't, Lucina. It's obvious that you need someone to talk to._" "Hey," he called out softly, waiting until she looked at him again before continuing. "The future definitely concerns me. It concerns everyone! It's everyone's future, so we'll do all that we can to make sure that it's a great one." This time, he reached out and gripped her shoulder gently, giving her the option to throw it off. When she didn't, his smile grew. "You don't have to take care of everyone all the time. Sometimes, even the strongest of us need someone to give them a pep talk."

Lucina looked into her companion's eyes for a short while, taking in how bright they seemed to be. "_Like the stars…_" she thought absentmindedly before blinking a few times to rid her head of those ridiculous thoughts. "You are very kind to say that, Morgan. But I don't need any kind of 'pep talk.' No more than anyone else in this camp."

Morgan took notice of her softened demeanor, and decided to push a little more. "No offense, Lucina, but I don't believe you. You've faced most of the hardships that we're concerned about, probably more than some people in our camp combined." He could feel Lucina's muscles tense under his hand.

"No offense, _Morgan_, but I don't believe that's entirely accurate. Chrom and Lissa were forced to watch their sister _plummet to her death_, and Panne's entire species has been eradicated." Lucina's eyes glistened even more, and her breathing became ragged. "Please tell me how my suffering could even compare to theirs'?"

Morgan faltered a bit, looking down at the ground and removing his hand. This was not exactly what he had intended. However, thinking over his previous words, he immediately looked back up at Lucina, and the surprise was evident in her widening eyes. "You're right, Lucina. But that is why I said 'some' people. You're right in the fact that you still have the human race and your family, but at the same time, you also don't."

Lucina, still slightly angered at his contradiction, countered. "How could I both have and not have?"

The tactician smiled sadly again. "In this timeline, you have friends and family that you can depend on and who depend on you in return. But," he looked up and away at the stars, "in the timeline that you were from, that you _feel_ like you belong to, your entire family is dead, and, from the sound of your stories of that time, the human race was on the verge of collapsing. Technically, you have less than everyone else in this camp, because your time may not even exist anymore."

Lucina calmed down considerably after hearing his logic, but even so, she felt that he had left one concern out in his explanation. "The others who came back with me have much the same issues."

"Yes. You're right, and they all show their grief in different ways." Morgan grinned. "You may not be the happiest person around, but you hide your true grief behind your mask of purpose and duty." He brought his gaze back down to Lucina, and saw that her expression was one of shock. He continued on in a subdued tone. "But sometimes, you need to let that mask down, and let people see the real you. You can't have someone help you if they don't even know who they're trying to help."

There was a long silence at these words. Lucina frowned pensively, knowing what he wanted of her, but not knowing if she could really be open with him. "_I can't tell him. I can't trust him. I'll just keep telling him, and then I'll lose my resolve completely. I can't let him see me like that… weak, defeated, hopeless… he'll try to help, and then I'll only end up hurting him or getting him killed…_" She thought back to her nightmares and realized that a fair amount of them focused on the boy in front of her being destroyed in multiple, twisted, bloody ways. "_I… _want_ to tell him… I want him to help… I want to trust him…but I can't. I…_" Her thoughts were interrupted by Morgan scooting closer and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Lucina instantly stiffened and attempted to pull away, but before she could fully, the boy spoke softly.

"Lucina. I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but I want to prove to you that you can trust me. You can let your mask come down. You can cry if you need to. Whatever you need, I'll be right here to help you through it." He smiled at her, noticing that she had stopped trying to pull away. "Please, Lucina. Let me help you like you help everyone else."

Lucina was overcome with her conflicting emotions as she looked away. "I…" Internally, she was already cursing herself for losing her composure so quickly. "_To… be rendered a stuttering, helpless mess… what is wrong with me?_" As she struggled to reign in her feelings, Morgan continued to wait patiently, slightly squeezing his companion's shoulder in a subtle form of reassurance.

There was a long moment of silence as the two contemplated about what their next moves should be. Neither one budged – Morgan out of fear of breaking her concentration, and Lucina out of stubbornness. Neither one budged physically as well, except when the two huddled slightly closer together as another icy breeze blew by.

Finally, Lucina broke the silence. "Morgan," she said in a hushed tone as she turned to look at him again. "I… cannot tell you how I really feel. I cannot let anyone become closer to me. Otherwise…" She clasped her hands together and squeezed them tightly, her voice taking on the same tone. "Otherwise… they'll get hurt, even killed. It's something that I've always feared, and I don't want to burden you with that. You are a dear friend and trustworthy comrade, but I cannot get any closer to you." Lucina confused Morgan when she chuckled slightly. "I acknowledge that this is selfish of me… I don't want to get closer to others, because I don't want to suffer the pain of losing yet another… important person. I… am not sure how to put this… but… if you die as you are now, I will be sad, but I will be able to move on, with time. But… if I get… too close to you… and you die… I feel that I won't recover." She smiled a sad smile. "It is almost like armor. I've lost so many crucial parts that if I lose just one more, I'll fall apart completely. Like you said, I've lost so much… I don't wish to lose anymore. If that means that I shut people out, then so be it." Lucina unclasped her hands and put them at her sides, looking down at them with the same sad smile on her face.

Morgan remained silent, both to give Lucina some space, and to contemplate what she had just told him. "_I… can see her point. Yet…_" He looked over at her more thoroughly. "_She hasn't pulled away. In fact, during her whole speech, she leaned into me slightly. I'm sure that must count for something._" Deciding that he had to push her a little bit more, Morgan spoke, "Lucina. I… understand why you feel this way. It might be selfish, but that's probably the best kind of selfish there is!" When Lucina looked up at him, stunned, he chuckled. "Lucina… caring this much about people isn't really a form of selfishness. The fact that you do so much to protect everyone around you is actually extremely selfless. I know that you feel like you are only caring about your needs and disregarding how we want to interact with you…" As he said this, Lucina looked sharply away again. "But, I don't think that's the whole picture." He squeezed her shoulders slightly, which caused her to look into his eyes again, with an emotion that could only be described as "_Hope. Which is what she's been looking for all along…_"

Morgan continued slowly, feeling that what he said next could either fuel her will to live and fight or destroy it completely, "You want to protect yourself, but you're doing that so that you can protect others! If you were to fall apart, no one would be able to count on you. I think… you're aware of this, maybe subconsciously. But the fact remains that your act of selfishness is truly one of selflessness. And," he smiled at her and continued in a gentler tone, "even if you feel that you are looking out for your own interests, that's fine too. You deserve to be just as happy as everyone else!"

There was a long silence that followed his words, with Morgan continuing to stare reassuringly into Lucina's eyes. His smile grew even wider when he saw her eyes light up even more, as he realized that his talk had pushed her into the right direction. He said nothing as he waited for her to speak her thoughts.

Eventually, Lucina snuggled even closer to her companion, shocking Morgan into a stupefied silence rather than a patient one. Lucina chuckled lightly at his slightly alarmed expression, as she was somewhat surprised herself by her behavior. "_Definitely strange,_" she thought to herself. "_Strange… but not uncomfortable…_" Blinking slowly, Lucina pondered her next words carefully. "Thank you, Morgan. Hearing someone else voice out my thoughts… I must say, it feels quite liberating." There was a comfortable silence after this statement. Lucina did not move, and she eventually felt Morgan relax again, his expression returning to one of calmness.

Though she did not want to ruin the moment, Lucina felt that she had to ask. "Morgan? I… was wondering… does your offer still stand? Would you be available to… listen to what I have to say?"

Morgan grinned slightly. Though he had been startled at Lucina's sudden shift in closeness, both physically and emotionally, he realized that she had ultimately opened up to him like he had wanted. Squeezing her shoulder slightly, he responded, "Of course. Anything that you have to say is worthwhile, Lucina. I'll be happy to listen… maybe even offer advice if you need it."

Lucina smiled, her first real one of the night. She was honestly touched by Morgan's kind words and gestures, which made it that much easier to confide in him once she was able to keep her negative thoughts at bay. She now realized that though she could hurt herself by making close friends and then losing them on the battlefield, she was hurting herself even more by not having any.

Looking into Morgan's smiling face, Lucina saw that building friendships would give her strength, which in turn would help her to protect those with whom she had built ties. It was better to have friends and lose them rather than to never have friends at all.

It was Morgan who had shown her that. His kindness, his openness, and his warmth, both figuratively and literally. She appreciated it more than she could ever express.

But for now, she leaned into the boy with amnesia and told him everything that she had been worrying about. Every nightmare and every troublesome thought. Through it all, his smile never faltered, and his advice was always pertinent and honest.

The two talked long into the night, and when they finally finished, Lucina had never felt happier. She would remember this night, this conversation, and this boy.

But most importantly, she would remember this night as the night when she had fallen in love.


End file.
